New Projects Are An Axe In Our Heads (In A Good Way)

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This week's new project round-up raises a lot of important questions, like: "Why wouldn't you want to name a board game Oh My God! There's An Ax In My Head?" and "Where does a cross-dressing weasel get his clothes?" We would say more, but why spoil the fun? Read on, and be sure to stop by our Discover Projects page for more unbelievable silliness couched inside of really, really amazing projects. There is a lot of it, which we're pretty into.

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Photographer Allen Ying wants to start a very-cool-looking photo and art mag for skateboarding lovers everywhere. Called 43
(named after a classic skateboarding trick) and the size of a vinyl
record, it offers an unfiltered look into a skateboarding subculture in
the form of a free bimonthly publication. Allen, who says magazines play
an essential role in skateboarding’s heritage, hopes to circulate the
mag to skate shops all over the country. With its clean layout and
high-energy photos, it would look good anywhere! — Daniella J.

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Catalogue is an art map for New Orleans, a city full of beguiling little
galleries, where everything feels like it could be just around the
corner. There's no city better to wander around in — any little side-street, hole-in-the-wall could be the best po-boy you ever had, and any little art gallery can pull you in for much longer than intended, but sometimes it's nice to have a guide (and a way back). And
for cultural bonus points, Catalogue has consciously democratized the
New Orleans gallery scene, listing everyone equally, including the
off-the-radar, out of the art district places that are sure to suck you
in for whole afternoons. It's also very pretty and will be updated every
few months, so feel free to brag to your friend on how up-to-date you
are on basically everything. — Meaghan O.

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Before
we all became silent (i)pod people, there was The Boombox, a brash and
bold expression of shared experience. The boombox remains a symbol of
community, and artist Bayete Ross Smith
breaks down and builds up that very idea with his Got The Power
project. Making interactive public art sculptures out of massive stacks
of boomboxes, Smith has created and captured communal life up in
Washington Heights, down on the Bowery, and out in West Baltimore. He
calls them "community portraits," as the boomboxes not only play tracks,
but local folks can also add their favorite songs to the public
playlist and record neighborhood memories, all of which get swirled
around and pumped back out via area-specific mixtapes. Smith is about to
install 180 boomboxes for 10 months in a Shafer, MN, public
park. Shafer high school principles and curfew-enforcers take note: it's
10pm, and now you probably know where your children are. — Elisabeth H.

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David Fooden and Chris Adams have been trying to get their board game Oh My God! There's An Axe In My Head published
since 2008, but after a series of problems with traditional publishers
(including one that wanted them to change the game's title!?!?), they've
decided to strike out on their own. The game takes place in the 1920's
during the first meeting of the League of Nations, except instead of
polite discourse, diplomacy takes the shape of a finely hewn axe. The
artwork looks a lot like what would happen if John Kovalic and Winsor
McCay made an art baby, which is to say it looks really cool. So check
it out, pre-order a copy, and seriously, who wouldn't want to play a
game called Oh My God! There's An Axe In My Head? — Cindy A.

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According to illustrator Matthew Meyer, yokai are some of the zaniest things ever imagined by human beings. Just a few notable examples are: water goblins whose favorite food is human anus, cross-dressing weasels, dragon elephants that only feed on bad dreams, and women with extra mouths in the back of their heads. Sounds weird, scary, strange, and — duh! — totally amazing. Matthew has spent the last few years collecting yokai folk stories, translating them from Japanese, and painting illustrations to accompany them. The book that he's looking to create will be one of the first publications to feature these stories in English. And to be real? They look like they're going to be really freaking cool. On a side note, I once made an illustrated book of imaginary creatures with my best friend when we were in elementary school (this was before I read Borges and fully comprehended how unoriginal the idea was, though), which ended in her parents placing a highly alarmed phone call to our school counselor. I hope Matthew has better luck! — Cassie M.